AU Optronics (AUO) has announced the world’s first curved LCD display. It has a curved radius of 100mm and utilises TFT-LCD technology on a glass substrate.
The display was exhibited at the recent Society for Information Display (SID) Week 2008 in California.
The screen uses a special thinning technology and a curved backlight unit which is specially designed to maintain uniformity in contrast and brightness over the entire curved surface.
There are already flexible displays such a e-paper that could be shaped into a curve but they can’t compete with the image quality or colour performance of a TFT-LCD.
Some plans for future uses may include digital picture frames, watches or even displays in car dashboards to provide both practical and aesthetic appeal.
AUO is a Taiwanese technology firm active in the display market with a range of LCD’s, mobile devices and Notebooks.
Photo credit: AUO
See also: LG Round LCD Displays